They went up the stairs, bestowing a very scanty meed of attention on the much-talked-of pictures. Sebastian seemed in very high spirits, thought Helena, unconscious that her own cheeks were burning with their old brightness, that the actual sight of her and her eyes had turned her companion’s head; that he had thought more of her than of his work since they had parted; that her face, and her eyes, and an orange-coloured ribbon, had seemed to float before his eyes by day and by night, haunting him in all his business, and intruding themselves in the most solemn of committee meetings or political dinners. She was conscious that whenever she looked at him he seemed to be looking at her, and, she thought, often when she was not looking; that there was something in his eyes and his manner which made her tremble strangely, and that she suddenly felt quite certain that whatever might have been the case in the past, he did not care for Adrienne Blisset now. On that wet afternoon there were not more than half a dozen persons in all the suite of rooms. They walked through one after another, and would probably have gone on for ever, had they not found that they had come to the last: they were stopped by a wall, and could go no farther. ‘Sit down,’ said Sebastian, suddenly, taking her hand and drawing her to the settee in the middle of the room, which was empty, save for themselves. ‘You know I am in the midst of electioneering?’ said he. ‘I supposed so, from what I read in the papers.’ ‘That has been the only reason why I did not call. Twice I have tried to do so, but, with the best will in the world, I could not manage it. And poor Sutcliffe, my manager, is ill, so I have had double duty to do.’ ‘I am sure you are busy,’ she repeated mechanically. ‘It is thought that I shall win,’ he added. ‘The Conservatives seem to have got desperate. No local candidate would present himself, so they had down a Q.C. from the Junior Carlton. I don’t fancy he has much chance, though he is a good fellow.’ ‘Oh, he will have no chance. You will win. I shall be very glad.’ ‘Will you really? You really meant what you said when you told me I had no right to refuse?’ ‘I am not in the habit of saying what I don’t mean.’ ‘That is true, but you were very brief in your remarks on that occasion. Do you think that I really can do good?’ ‘Yes,’ said Helena, crushing down all the ungenerous remarks which occurred to her, and answering him frankly, according to her conviction, ‘I do. I think, with your experience of a different, broader life than most of our young manufacturers have led, and with the practical talents that you have too, you ought to rise to influence. You may do a great deal. I think you have a noble career before you, if you will follow it worthily. And--I--I shall always read with interest of your progress.’ ‘You really think this, though you so bitterly opposed me upon some other questions?’ he asked earnestly.